Health Information Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Attempts to stop fraud were enhanced under Public Law 104-191, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The purpose was to improve the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act, the Medicaid program under title XIX of such Act, and the efficiency and effectiveness of the health care system. This public law encouraged the development of a health information system through standards and requirements for the electronic transmission of certain health information (aspe.hhs.go). The Act established a program to take action against fraud committed against public and private health plans. The legislation required the establishment of a national Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program (HCFAC), under the joint direction of the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) acting through the Department 's Inspector General (HHS.gov). The HCFAC program is designed to coordinate Federal, State and local law enforcement activities with respect to health care fraud and abuse. The Act requires HHS and Department of Justice (DOJ) detail in an Annual Report the amounts deposited and appropriated to the Medicare Trust Fund, and the source of such deposits. (HHS.gov) I will summarize the impact of these laws as it pertains to how they are impacting the healthcare delivery system. (HHS.gov)

The practice violates Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rule and the recent update to the HIPAA privacy rule or the HIPAA Omnibus Final Rule. The Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a federal statute governing the protection of patient information, was enacted into law in 1996. The essential objective of the law is to make it easier for people, business to keep health insurance, protect the confidentiality and security of healthcare information and help the healthcare industry control administrative costs. The Privacy Rule addresses appropriate disclosure of PHI while the Security Rule addresses electronic disclosures.

Peel’s interpretation of the HIPAA regulation is that “HIPAA does not protect privacy” (Peel, 2014). She explains that health data is continuously being bought and sold between multiple different agencies and that data breaches are due to a policy problem and not a technology problem (Peel, 2014). This stance on the lack of privacy and security under HIPAA is an accurate point of view. Amendments to the HIPAA in 2002 included eliminating required consent for PHI disclosure, changing the policy for obtaining patient consent allowing for the free oral communication between doctors to discuss patients’ PHI, clarifying the current physician’s discretion to provide or deny access to children’s health records, restricting PHI for marketing purposes or use by parties not directly involved in patient care, and provisions for providers regarding billing and business practices (Norman, & Burroughs, 2002, p. 865-866). These amendments that eliminate the need for patient consent further degrade the lack of protection of PHI. Dr. Peel challenges the medical community to expose the continuous transfer of vital patient records between third party corporations in an attempt to draw attention and make a positive change toward proper security of patient’s

We never stop worrying about our children’s health—be they five or fifty. However, once our children turn eighteen, we as parents no longer have the right to receive their medical information – regardless if they are covered under our health insurance and even if we happen to be footing the bill!

The Health Insurance Portability and Administration Act (HIPAA) is legislation that was signed into law by former president Bill Clinton on 21 Aug, 1996. This legislation was introduced 18 Mar. 1996 by Bill Archer, TX (R) (Health Insurance). The purpose of this legislation was aimed at improving the portability and continual health care insurance coverage of American citizens and reduce the overall waste in medical spending. Not only did it provide the ability to keep ones’ health insurance it also provided protection of patient’s personal health information (PHI), but also provided provisions to simplify billing, expedite the migration to electronic medical records (EMR), and processes for individuals to make complaints and that the complaints be documented along with their disposition (Columbiana County). The HIPAA privacy rules, and its provisions, can be specifically located within 45 CFR 164, Under the provisions of HIPAA, specific information, known as PHI is protected from the unauthorized disclosure of any demographic information that relates to:

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was implemented in 1996 and it required the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to promote regulations that maintains and follow procedures that ensure the privacy and security of health information and protects patients' personal or protected health information (PHI). The HIPAA Privacy Rule regulations require health care providers and organizations, and their business associates to protect all individually identifiable health information when it is handled, transmitted, received, or shared. This information applies to all forms of protected health information (PHI), including digital, paper or oral. In addition, the information

A patient’s right to privacy is one of the most important and protected elements of healthcare today. Patient health information is protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and even more so by the HIPAA Privacy Rule. “The HIPAA Privacy Rule is a key federal law governing the privacy and confidentiality of patient information.” (Brodnik, Rinehart-Thompson, Reynolds. 2012 pg. 215.) The law governing patient privacy has two goals, “to provide an individual with greater rights with

-Employers do not want to be liable for employees. Discrimination against people who are at risk for a certain disease is more profitable because it will potently save the company a substantial amount of money.

Most countries have their own legislation and guidelines of who is covered, what information can be collected, and what it can be used for. There are some laws that are often specific to healthcare for example in the United States, healthcare is regulated at the local, state, and federal levels by laws like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) [26], the Privacy Rule, the Security Rule, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health

Over the last ten plus years, health care information technology continues to progress in a direction to increase patient safety and outcomes while maintaining the patients privacy. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the implementation of an Electronic Health Record [EHR] within the health care field and my work facilities compliance using this technology. I will also be discussing how the mandate goals will benefit the patient and the care provided by their healthcare team while improving patient safety. I will apply the concepts of data security while retaining the patient’s confidentiality and privacy to avoid a HIPAA violation within my practice.

With the advancement of the internet many areas of personal information are at risk of theft, even up to losing ones’ personal identity. The case study history is as follows: A laptop belonging to Kaiser Permanente was stolen from an employee’s car. This computer contained 38,000 Kaiser Permanente membership names, identification numbers, dates of birth, gender, and physician information (Laptop with patient info stolen, Rocky Mountain News, November 29, 2006). This loss and many other personal information injuries inform all healthcare agencies of the significance of implementing safeguards/regulatory guidelines to protect patient information. According to Smith (2000) “Threats to medical record privacy include: (a) administrative actions such as errors that release, misclassify, lose information or compromise accuracy; (b) misuse by users; and (c) uncontrolled access to the medical record. Heath care computerization is an increased threat to medical record privacy through enabling the storage of large amounts of data in small places. Therefore, when an intruder gains access, it is not just for a discrete amount of data but rather larger collections of information” will be at their fingertips (n.p.). There are several recommendations that can be enforced to increase the use of technology to protect confidential healthcare information, such as changes Kaiser Permanente completed, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JACHO), the HITECH Act,

Information is the center of the healthcare industry. All healthcare organizations utilize information whether in written or oral form. Safe and accurate information are some of the keys to quality care. With the industry constantly changing and with several ways of accessing processed data, safeguarding patient information is top priority. Information governance (IG) seeks to improve how information is handled (Hutchinson & Sharples, 2006). IG includes the protection of data, personal health records (PHR), electronic health records (EHR), and medical information exchanged via telemedicine. Breaches of personal information have been occurring more often and the time for information governance is indeed now. This paper will explain what information governance is, give examples of data breaches and how the particular organization was affected, and explain the importance of implementing information governance.

The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC) website (www.enac.gov, 2017) describes practice management systems as “critical linchpins to take the success of a medical practice and achieving its goals of driving down cost and improving quality” (para1.). The systems are used for the transmission of patient information (Colorado Technical University, 2017) and the need for privacy and security of the information during transmission must meet the standards set by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) (www.healtit.gov,

There are different types of information present in health care. In their field of work, nurses organize data they collect and incorporate it into effective nursing interventions and care plans. As technology increasingly arises in health care, nurses have the duty to maintain privacy and confidentiality of their patient. Therefore, nurses must be proficient in nursing informatics, are responsible for adequate information and documentation, and must abide the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to safeguard their client’s personal health information.

In light of available security measures and their widespread acceptance within the information security community, there is no excuse for healthcare organizations to fail in fulfilling their duty to protect personal patient information. Guaranteeing the confidentiality and privacy of data in healthcare information is crucial in safeguarding the data of patients as there should be a legal responsibility to protect medical records from unauthorized access.